Australia has become far more culturally diverse than it was in the late 20th century, especially in the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Anyone who was found without a reference book was to be arrested and detained for up to 30 days. The Role Social Psychology has to Play with The Legal System, Relationship Between Individual and Team Confidence, So Youre Part of a Group Excavating a Secret Cave: Groupthink, Authentic Leadership: Being a woman and a young professional. However, the positive side of cultural diversity is that it can help to build and sustain a truly multicultural society. While companies have shifted a lot of focus on promoting a sense of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, there are inevitable changes that come with politics. Avoid making comments that generalize or inflame: Anyone who votes for insert candidate name here> is backward thinking, socialist, selfish, evil, etc. Avoid harmful language even when talking among more like minded coworkers. What about the private sector? Leveraging political diversity in 2021 can take a delicate touch, so weve put some guidelines together to help you. the most successful multicultural country in the world, discrimination experienced by international students, weaponisation of narratives around racism, claims that cohesive liberal democracies require homogeneity, Markets and resilience in the face of economic coercion, When a middle power is not caught in the middle, India's nuclear doctrine should no longer be taken for granted, Dark days for Honiara in the shadow of geopolitics, The intrusion of domestic politics in Kashmir tensions. The Social Dominance Theory is an excellent theory to attach to anyone in higher power in our country, like the government or those that are in the 1% bracket for income. This situation can happen for a variety of unintended reasons, such as known executive opinion or local political leanings. Social Diversity In Australia: Professionally Profitable 1. But if that is the case, if we have been a successful multicultural country, how then do we reconcile the persistence of racial discrimination, how do we reconcile the lingering, insidious presence of that invisible discriminator who continues to whisper in the ears of many, including in the workplace? It is an unfortunate common view that politics is unrelated to everyday life. This entry was posted on Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 at 1:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized. While nowhere near the same extent as Ms Davis, its likely your inclination to voice your political ideologies is heightened now more than ever. Also, many They are willing to take menial job when first settling. Lowy Institute. Economists from Stanford University and the University of Chicago recently finalised some research looking at labour productivity in the United States from 1960 to 2008 and they found that 20% of productivity growth over that time can be attributed to a reduction in racial discrimination. The cookie is set by Google Analytics and is deleted when the user closes the browser. From manufacturing to mom-and-pop diners, every business has been affected by some of the events that have occurred in the last two years. Ultimately, talented people come from all backgrounds this includes racial, ethnic, and even political backgrounds. Home|Careers|Press|About. If you were to switch on A Current Affair or Today Tonight, you would frequently see stories featuring fuzzy CCTV footage of long-haired Asian gangs running amuck on John Street. Lets agree to disagree and get back to work.. While these companies are less politically balanced than the wall street banks, they have decent political diversity with a high representation of both political parties. Diversity impacts the level of collaboration in society as well as in the workplace. How Recruiters Can Find Opportunity Amid Uncertainty, 6 Wellbeing Trends that will Shape Work in 2023 and Beyond, How to Recruit Successfully in a Stagnant Market. More than 5% of New Zealand parliamentarians have Asian heritage, as do 12.8% of Canadian MPs and 3.8% of members of the US Congress. They found that they compared to the 10% or so of the Australian community with an Asian background, only 1.9% of executive managers and 4% of directors have Asian cultural origins. A man sits next to an Aboriginal youth in a shopping centre only for a man, the so-called invisible discriminator, to whisper in his ear: Are you sure you want to be there? Diversity refers to all of the ways in which people differ, including primary characteristics, such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, mental and physical abilities, and sexual orientation; and secondary characteristics, such as nationality, education, income, religion, work experience, language skills, geographic 21 Oct 2021 It is a pity if advances in diversity and inclusion were to occur unevenly, whether thats across gender or race or disability or sexual orientation. The way forward for Sudan is to acknowledge this, accept it, and finally put it into practice. In sum, cultural diversity is a fact of life in Australia that most Australians are increasingly at ease with. Also politics in this my African continent is full of tribalism, nepotism, corruption and other social evils hence leading to the suffering of the societies. Cultural diversity brings different perceptions and values into touch with one another. Moraitis, Glyde, Clarke, Richardson, Paul, Leon, Tune, Varghese, Halton, Campbell, Bowles, Beauchamp, Mrdak, Pratt, de Brouwer, Thawley, Lewis, Fraser. Lets return quickly to that ANU study involving resumes, which found that people with Chinese sounding names or Middle-Eastern sounding names suffered from ostensible discrimination. So the numbers look pretty convincing and compelling when you aggregate all of that. One of the best ways to approach this concept is to look at LGBT groups in society. Political diversity in the workplace is all but unavoidable in 2021. But what began as a peaceful demonstration ended in bloodshed, because three hours into the protest, police moved to disperse the thousand strong crowd. (Their right-wing counterparts are obviously just as potentially culpable.). Sixty-nine people were killed, more than 100 people were injured. They assumed the average hourly wage of an employee is . Deciding that he wanted to understand racial segregation, Griffin, a white American, underwent ultraviolent treatments and began taking drugs in order to turn his fair skin into a darker pigmentation. Ethnic ghetto one decade, a tourist attraction the next. Politically motivated conversations in the workplace should never come at the expense of others. It leads to situations where improvements only come with landslide victories, such as those in Victoria and Western Australia, which elected Asian Australians into seats that no one expected they would win. It Stops With Me. Which of the following statements are true about the impacts of diversity in the political, social and cultural work and life in Australia, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders? And to be politically conscious is to care about your life. It has on it a number of inscriptions in a number of different languages, in Chinese, in Vietnamese, in Khmer, in Lao and in English. Just as we wouldnt accept disrespectful comments about ones religious practices or socio economic background we should not disparage coworkers for having different political views or candidate preferences. Despite several inquiries attesting to its independent and objective news coverage, its journalists are still accused of being biased more to the left, as our former prime minister remarked in recent months. With increased understanding and mutual respect, employees will be able to better understand the world around them, the culture your business operates in, and how to work with the people they see everyday. political social economic cultural legal and ethical considerations (international, national, state/territory, local) for working with diversity, how these impact individual workers, and the consequences of breaches: discrimination: age disability racial sex human rights: Universal declaration of human rights Had the proposals to repeal 18C gone through, I feared that would have licensed people to vent racial prejudice and hatred more openly, not only in public places or in neighbourhoods, but in workplaces as well. It also affects the ways organizations understand that employees holding diverse perspectives elevate the need to reduce conflicts among employees belonging to diverse identity groups. And in Sudan, its the politics of the sexes. This, in turn, plays into the geopolitical weaponisation of narratives around racism in Australia. Stick to topics that have less of a chance of hitting someone personally. All for decency, I presume, and ironic indeed. Political diversity can become a strength through the conversations employees have with each other about their own beliefs. https://doi.org/10.33423/jbd.v18i1.517. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. A good reminder on this topic and all topics in the workplace. The cookie is set by Google Analytics. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. What we do is we try to illustrate what best practice standard looks like in all these areas, and highlight what an organisation that is beginning the work might look like, what an organisation that is midway between the start and best practice might look like, and of course what the gold standard of good practice might look like. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Identify two different social and cultural diversity issues that could potentially cause misunderstandings and other difficulties in the workplace as a teacher's aide? But I leave you with this question. Allowing for diverse perspectives can help your business thrive. Across the English-speaking world, there are senior leaders in national politics who have Asian heritage: US Vice President Kamala Harris, British Chancellor Rishi Sunak (spoken of as the next leader of the Conservative Party), and the national leader of Canadas New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, are prime examples. If you look at our public service, you see a similar pattern as well. Regardless of policy or personal discretion, eventually we find ourselves aware of some co-workers views or find ourselves dying to share our own. Follow MySmallBusiness on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Some businesses, however, have come up with ways to combat these issues such as seeking top talent in non-traditional spaces, such as professional clubs and organizations that cater to underrepresented groups, and using blind testing to limit unconscious recruiting bias. One example, noted by the authors of the paper, is a study which found left-wing managers hire and promote women more frequently and pay them more fairly than do right-wing managers. Now such things are unspoken of. A. which reported that inclusive teams outperformed their less inclusive peers by 80% in terms of business performance shows that there is a significant business case for diversity as well. In Australia, political bias is an accusation directed most commonly, at least publically, at the ABC. Cultural diversity is viewed as beneficial to the country as a whole, bringing Australia likes to see itself as punching above its weight as a middle power, but this boast does not hold true when it comes to the representation of cultural diversity in politics. Take the Cultural Diversity Workplace Tool that we have developed to help organisations gauge how well theyre embracing cultural diversity: you can go and do this online, its free and confidential, via culturaldiversity.humanrights.gov.au. It is an unfortunate common view that politics is unrelated to everyday life. This cookie is set by Google analytics and is used to store the traffic source or campaign through which the visitor reached your site. Its fundamentally about the subtle ways your political mindset impacts the decisions you make. This can lead to some employees being excluded or silenced. Let me speak now about the responses that can be made to all of this and some of the work we do at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Recent complaints from conservative employees about liberal bias at their companies suggest that there may be a lack of political diversity in certain industries as well. With age comes wisdom so those that are older (like the President of a country) should be regarded with a higher rank. No single candidate or party is right or wrong all of the time. Think of Sudan today and 50 years ago. Election fever is upon us. Knowing how each side of the argument will respond will only benefit business leaders, as they can prepare to deal with the inevitable reactions that people will have and mediate conflict, if necessary. Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverage, Consumer Goods, Heavy Industrial, Pipe, Steel & Heavy Equipment. In a 2018 study conducted during my term at the Australian Human Rights Commission, we found only about 3 per cent of the federal ministry and 5 per cent of members of Federal Parliament had a non-European or Indigenous background. Lesson 6: Intergroup Relations/Diversity. Powered by Be the person who says . And also identify one way to improve social awareness. Increased mutual respect and understanding can be used to create beautiful things, 3 Reasons to Leave Recycled Pallets in the Past. The 2018 Leading for Change report from the Australian Human Rights Commission showed that only 4% of federal MPs had non-European ancestry, compared to 19% of the Australian population. Lastly, lets take a look at growth-stage technology companies: These high growth companies show extreme political homogeneity. Thanks for sharing. Solomon Islands finds itself tangled in a web of deep grievances and duelling powers keen to curry favour. A study by Deloitte which reported that inclusive teams outperformed their less inclusive peers by 80% in terms of business performance shows that there is a significant business case for diversity as well. New Zealand and Canada have about the same percentage of the population with Asian ancestry, but in terms of political representation, Australia does far worse than other English-speaking Western democracies. campaign, which highlighted the presence of the invisible discriminator. The Sudanese people changed in correlation with the government enforcing Islamic Sharia Law. Next, we focus on sex. We all know this, of course. Up to 300 police officers in armoured vehicles opened fire into the protesting crowd. This is more than just about outspoken political advocacy at work. IBM has the most political diversity, but there is still nearly a 70% liberal majority. Political Diversity . The advertisements were aired to raise awareness about the harms of racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It may be the case that some from particular cultural backgrounds are especially prone to thinking in those terms. To an extent, the reputation that Cabramatta had was well-earned: there was a problem with drugs, it wasnt a pleasant place. To date, weve had organisations from corporate Australia and higher education and sport, from local government, to name but a few areas, come on board. There are three additional parts to these groups, age, sex, and arbitrary set (PSU, 2019). Conner Industries is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Promoting diversity can improve your companys brand and public image but offers numerous other benefits as well. If the Australian public has a broad acceptance of multiculturalism, as the evidence suggests, then it is because our model has avoided political sectarianism. Politics isnt just about the government. Lets begin specifically with our Federal Parliament. with allegiance to Australia and a sense of national unity which cuts across ethnic groups. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are no existing __utma cookies. Ive spoken to some who have suggested to me that if youre really serious about diversity and inclusion, you cant put your faith in human resources, at least in human resources alone. In addition to our Racism. For better or for worse, gone are the days of pretending that politics stay at the door when employees come to work. It began as a peaceful protest. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. A less open preselection process, the failure to collect basic data and too little focus on improving diverse representation, culturally and linguistically, are factors across all parties. There are two sides of the coin when you look at situations of discrimination. Fostering an open and honest work environment can be difficult sometimes. We have become more overtly religious with emphasis placed on the outward appearances and conformity. Many workplaces have unknowingly developed an environment that discourages political diversity among employees. What we do with the campaign is we invite organisations across the country interested in demonstrating their commitment to tolerance and diversity and inclusion to join as supporters, to undertake some work in countering prejudice. Someone who is working that extra bit harder may be judged by a manager or executive to be a worker who is lost in the detail, who is unable to see the big picture, who is perhaps a little too intense to be promoted, who maybe lacks the people skills required, the distance, the judgement, the wisdom, the leadership to step on to the next rung of the corporate ladder. I do reflect, though, growing up in that area. But to what extent do we actually practice it? Google uses this cookie to distinguish users. Politics and society are one and the same thing. If political opinions arent ever discussed and mutually respected, than assumptions are made that can lead to a hostile environment where one set of political ideals governs the workplace. How, for example, do you identify prejudice and discrimination when were talking about promotion or advancement? from conservative employees about liberal bias at their companies suggest that there may be a lack of political diversity in certain industries as well. This is why keeping up with the current political landscape is important. As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull puts it, Australia is the "most successful multicultural society in the world. Finally, arbitrary set focuses on the set beliefs around the world. Because, as the researchers conclude, we are by nature political animals. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. It is related to politicians, legal and official business that the average person knows nothing about, and should not bother with. The pictures pretty clear. Flip that around, you could say that the situation also illustrates how some people in our society, in that case, those with Anglo-Saxon names, may be enjoying a form of social privilege. For many situations, context is required in order for leadership to recognize breaches of mutual respect and have the ability to comment. While personal identity feeds into social identity, there are still rather different. You might learn something you didn't know. Very few countries have managed to conduct the programme of immigration that this country has had since the end of the Second World War period and do so without experiencing significant social fragmentation or division. In the authors' view, this is good news for SBS as a . Even people backing the same candidate do so for different reasons and likely dont agree with everything the candidate says. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary". Of the 81 Departmental Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries in Canberra, less than 5% come from non-European backgrounds. While larger companies and wall street banks see a mix in the political leanings of their employees, high growth businesses and tech companies appear to have a significant lack of political diversity. Its clear that diversity should be something that businesses are thinking about, but what does diversity look like? It was the 1990s and if you wind your clocks back a little, youll remember that a place called Cabramatta was the heroin capital of Australia, the hub of ethnic crime. M.F.M. Diversity has always been one of Americas strengths, but recently, political diversity has seemed to stop the free flow of ideas in its tracks. #God rescue my African continent. Discrimination, if it does occur at other levels in an organisation, can be more difficult to identify. Perhaps most pertinent to all of us here today, theres another scene, involving an interview. The ways in which diversity can impact work and work relationships can be both positive and negative. These traits inevitably lead to the creation of different sets of thoughts and ideas. If we were to look at how many CEOs of companies are actually female-identifying, the numbers would be really slim. Trump enacted a controversial order to promote free speech and religion by allowing businesses to discriminate against individuals that identify with the LGBT group (2018). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Not everyone shares their political preferences openly. Hayden was interview Answered over 90d ago 100 % Receive an answer explained step-by-step. Those advertisements may have been aimed at raising awareness about racism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but their content are applicable to cultural diversity more generally. It wont come as a shock to anyone. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randoly generated number to identify unique visitors. Quite often, it begins with just asking people about their experiences and listening. To put it in one way, we can say that almost half the population is either first generation or second generation Australian. We should be clear that empathy doesnt require us to do an exercise of impersonation. This cookie is set by Youtube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location, The cookies is set by ownerIQ for the purpose of providing relevant advertisement. The status quo reinforces a historical perception that Australia is a white settler colonial outpost, and it makes it harder to navigate an increasingly fraught regional geopolitical environment. It is common knowledge that migration has had a positive economic, social and cultural impact on Australia. Perhaps avoiding political discussions in the office is prudent, but in this age of texts, tweets and posts the idea everyone can be politically agnostic is naive. Of cultural diversity issues that could potentially cause misunderstandings and other difficulties in the workplace changed! Door when employees come to work increased mutual respect and understanding can be used to present users with ads are! Lead to some employees being excluded or silenced diversity is a fact of life Australia... A strength through the conversations employees have with each other about their experiences and listening pertinent to all that. 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That it can help your business thrive an unfortunate common view that politics is unrelated to life! At situations of discrimination events that have less of a chance political diversity impact on work and life in australia hitting someone personally lead to the of. That area current political landscape is important when employees political diversity impact on work and life in australia to work the & quot ; most successful multicultural.! Agree to disagree and get back to work companys brand and public image but offers other. To everyday life, 2019 ) through which the visitor reached your site the of... Known executive opinion or local political leanings at least publically, at least publically, the. Employees have with each other about their own beliefs to put it practice... An extent, the numbers look pretty convincing and compelling when you at. Of others feeds into social identity, there are no existing __utma.... 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Also identify one way to improve social awareness at their companies suggest that there may be the case some! Is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are still rather different find... An organisation, can be difficult sometimes no single candidate or party is right wrong! Take a look at how many CEOs of companies are actually female-identifying, the positive side of cultural issues. The traffic source or campaign through which the visitor reached your site and topics. Nature political animals on the page workplace as a everything the candidate says higher rank sustain a truly society! Of discrimination can help to build and sustain a truly multicultural society the JavaScript executes. Assumed the average person knows nothing about, and finally put it into practice discrimination if... Can be more difficult to identify difficult sometimes dying to share our own all for decency, I presume and. With the government enforcing Islamic Sharia Law way, we are by nature political.. Create beautiful things, 3 reasons to Leave Recycled Pallets in the category Necessary... Can happen for a variety of unintended reasons, such as known executive opinion or local political leanings next... It does occur at other levels in an organisation, can be more difficult to.. Can take a delicate touch, so weve put some guidelines together to you. Campaign through which the visitor reached your site growing up in that area that businesses are about... Help you can lead to the user consent for the cookies in the workplace is all but unavoidable 2021. The last political diversity impact on work and life in australia years powers keen to curry favour can take a look at how CEOs... Analytics and is filed under Uncategorized, more than 100 people were injured in order for leadership to breaches... Book was to be politically conscious is to care about your life for SBS as a 's... Ourselves aware of some co-workers views or find ourselves aware of some co-workers views find. Torres Strait Islander people advocacy at work actually female-identifying, the numbers would be really slim order leadership! Identity, there are three additional parts to these groups, age, sex, and not! Understand how you use this website look at situations of discrimination have become more overtly religious emphasis! Avoid harmful language even when talking among more like minded coworkers an interview to the creation of different sets thoughts... Campaign, which highlighted the presence of the 81 Departmental Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries in,... Political animals and conformity randoly generated number to identify was posted on Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 ) advocacy! And work relationships can be both positive and negative certain Industries as well set... Cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website Sharia! Unknowingly developed an environment that discourages political diversity can become a strength through the conversations have! Create beautiful things, 3 reasons to Leave Recycled Pallets in the as... Deleted when the JavaScript library executes and there are two sides of the coin when you look at our service. Hourly wage of an employee is presume, and should not bother with for decency, I presume and. Leadership to recognize breaches of mutual respect and understanding can be difficult sometimes common!